On the go and no time to finish that story right now? Your News is the place for you to save content to read later from any device. Register with us and content you save will appear here so you can access them to read later.

Kiwi rally star Hayden Paddon has been awarded the Certina Timing Award after hurtling his Hyundai i20 down the famous El Condor mountain to outgun world champion Sebastien Ogier in YPF Rally Argentina's Power Stage and secure his maiden win.

It essentially recognises the best moment of the year.

Star drivers from the WRC joined team bosses and championship officials for a sparkling finale to a dramatic FIA World Rally Championship season in Sydney on Monday night where Paddon and other drivers were handed awards.

More than 200 guests, including showbusiness celebrities and dignitaries from the New South Wales capital, celebrated the campaign at the WRC Gala Awards in the historic Rocks area, in the shadow of the famous Harbour Bridge.

Ott Tänak carried off the top award of WRC Driver of the Year, as voted for by fans on the championship's official wrc.com website.

The popular Estonian finished runner-up in Poland and Britain in a Ford Fiesta RS, coming within an ace of his maiden victory in the Polish fixture before a puncture in the penultimate speed test cruelly denied him.

Tänak's emotional reaction at the end of the rally, after which world champion Ogier carried him on his shoulders as fellow drivers applauded, also earned him the Michelin Magic Moment award.

Nicolas Gilsoul, co-driver to Hyundai's Thierry Neuville, was voted WRC Co-driver of the Year. The Belgian clinched the runners-up spot in the championship at the final round Kennards Hire Rally Australia 24 hours earlier.

Italian Lorenzo Bertelli's sparkling mirror-finish Fiesta RS wowed the voters to win the WRC 6 Livery of the Year, and Andreas Mikkelsen's high-flying leap over the famous Fafe jump in Portugal earned him the DJI Aerial Award.

Volkswagen Motorsport director Sven Smeets accepted a special trophy on behalf of the team after completing a fourth consecutive clean sweep of the drivers', co-drivers' and manufacturers' titles.

The 2017 championship starts at Rallye Monte-Carlo on 19 - 22 January and marks the return of former world champions Toyota and Citroën to the series. New rules promise extra power, lighter cars, bigger rear wings and more aggressive looking challengers.